It took tours of downtown and Midtown — and even some of the less thriving areas of the city — with commercial lenders to show them why Detroit's central business district is a sound investment.

Out of the seven lenders that toured, it was Miami Beach, Fla.-based Starwood Mortgage Capital that financed a $24.5 million loan at 75 percent of the 1001 Woodward Ave. building's value for Dan Gilbert's Bedrock Real Estate Services LLC.

This valuation is significant because it marks the first time a lender has financed a loan for 75 percent of a Detroit office building's value in recent memory, said Dennis Bernard, founder and president of Southfield-based Bernard Financial Group Inc., which originated the loan on Gilbert's 299,000-square-foot building at Woodward and Michigan avenues.

Financing at 75 percent of a building's value is an industry standard, although it has fluctuated in down times from about 65 percent during the recession and 75 percent to 78 percent "during the boom times," said Joe McBride, research analyst for New York City-based loan data service Trepp LLC.

Six out of the seven lenders that toured the city offered 70 percent to 75 percent of the 1001 Woodward building's value, Bernard said.

"They loved it," Bernard said. "We showed them what works, what doesn't work, what the issues are, where the growth is. Then we showed them with numbers."

The $24.5 million deal equates to a loan worth $82 per square foot. At 75 percent of the value of the 28-story building, that makes the building worth $33 million, or $110 per square foot, which still compares favorably to the estimated $140 per square foot or more it costs to construct a new building over eight stories tall.

Paul Choukourian, managing director of the Southfield office of Colliers International Inc., said that doesn't include things like land acquisition, interior finishes and other expenses.

"It could be $200-plus per foot" for a new building downtown, Choukourian said.

In 2012, the 250,000-square-foot One Kennedy Square was refinanced for $27.3 million, or $112 per square foot. That loan was at 65 percent of the Redico LLC-owned building's value, placing the price of the office building at $170 per square foot.

Still, the lenders were skeptical at first about the 1001 Woodward re-fi because of lots of negative financial news about Detroit.

"We kept saying, 'What you read in the paper doesn't match up with what you see on the ground,' " Bernard said.

"Here we are: Our city is in bankruptcy. Our main industry went through bankruptcies. But we are rapidly approaching the national norms out there for lending, both in the suburbs and downtown and Midtown," Bernard said.

"Detroit is not a bad word anymore," he said. "People are interested and want to hear the story. Two national lenders took tours this week. They want to see properties downtown and get their arms around them. The lending markets are pretty favorable right now. Three years ago, this would have been very difficult."

Last week's loan for Gilbert, the founder and chairman of Quicken Loans Inc. and Rock Ventures LLC, shows lending standards for Detroit properties improving from just two years ago. In 2012, Southfield-based Redico LLC refinanced the 250,000-square-foot One Kennedy Square building for $27.3 million at 65 percent of its value.

Total commercial mortgage-backed securities debt issued in metro Detroit in the last several years has fluctuated.

In 2005, $1.65 billion in CMBS debt was issued in metro Detroit, according to Trepp. That tapered off during the next few years as $1.44 billion was issued in 2006 and $1.22 billion in 2007.

Last year, $1.05 billion in debt from commercial mortgaged-back securities was issued, according to Trepp. That marked a sharp uptick from the previous two years. In 2012, there was $454 million and in 2011, $216 million. There was $142 million in 2010 and none in 2009, according to Trepp.

Jim Ketai, CEO and managing partner of Bedrock, called the new loan "another indication of the growing confidence the financial markets have in our downtown."

"The commercial real estate market in Detroit has improved significantly since we purchased 1001 Woodward just over a year ago, and we see this trend not only continuing but gaining momentum in the period ahead."

McBride, however, said lenders he speaks with are still wary overall about Detroit.

"Anecdotally, I've talked with some people who just weren't allowed to look (at lending) in Detroit," McBride said. "It just wasn't part of the footprint that banks were willing to go in."

The 1001 Woodward building is one of more than 40 properties Gilbert has purchased. He has spent more than $1.3 billion buying and renovating buildings, largely in the city's central core.

Gilbert bought the 1001 Woodward building and an attached parking structure with 730 spaces from Dimitrios "Jim" Papas in March 2013 on a land contract, Bernard said. Bedrock is now the sole owner.

Bernard said the building is 94 percent occupied. Employees of Gilbert's Quicken Loans take up 21 percent of the building, according to Bernard.

Other tenants include GalaxE Solutions (27,000 square feet), Meridian Health Plan (41,000 square feet), the University of Phoenix (25,000 square feet) and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (28,000 square feet), according to Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service CoStar Group Inc.

Livonia-based Schostak Bros. & Co. plans to build a new 320,000-square-foot headquarters for Detroit-based Meridian Health Plan downtown, with construction beginning late this year or early next year. The project is expected to cost $111 million.

Lutz said the diversified rent roll at 1001 Woodward likely helped grease the skids for the new loan.

The 23-story building was 68 percent leased when Gilbert bought it. Papas bought the building in 2008 for $5.5 million.